Welcome, brave adventurer, to the world of startups, where every day brings new challenges, opportunities, and chances to grow. Much like in a role-playing game (RPG), the journey of a startup founder is filled with thrilling adventures, daunting obstacles, and rewarding achievements.

Founder RPG is designed to guide you through the epic journey of building and running a startup, using game design principles and RPG analogies to make the process fun and insightful. We eschew dry, boring startup texts around here!

Who is this NPC talking?

Why RPG? Why games?

As I was working on/alongside various companies and teams, I started getting the sense that running a company is like playing a game.

• How do you have the right amount of challenge, and how do you keep players motivated?

• How do I design levels for the team to keep improving towards?

• Hey, actually, aren’t I just a player with RPG stats I’m trying to improve all the time?

Instead of regurgitating boring old theory, I started framing my experience as a player in a startup RPG, playing with my guild (team), and discovering a map (growth). The “bosses” are major milestones in a company that occur for most of us (finding product-market fit, scaling through painful team changes, runway headaches, etc. etc.).

And most of all, I believe in the power of fun and a template to unblock ourselves. A fun narrative substantiates learning. A good template with the right questions stimulates thinking and action.

I hope new founders (and seasoned ones too!) can learn and grow quickly, and rapidly ramp up to providing extraordinary value to the users they serve.

Hence, Founder RPG was spawned.

Who is this for?

• New Founder: If you are at the very beginning of your entrepreneurial journey, still mapping out the path ahead, Founder RPG is the perfect place to start. Get a sense of the adventure, learn the terrain, and find inspiration.

• Seasoned Founder: If you are a seasoned explorer of the startup world, looking to uncover new strategies and insights, Founder RPG is a good recap. It is also a good place to orient your Founder RPG stats, and find areas you can improve.

• Master Founder: If you are someone who has already scaled the peaks and now wants to pass on your knowledge to others, Founder RPG is probably fun and giggles — and I hope you will share what you know with all of us!

No matter where you are on this map, Founder RPG is here to help you explore, learn, and grow. This is more than just a guide—it’s a a journey, tailored to your unique adventure.

This is you.

You have a vision of a better future. In this future, you’ve changed the world significantly in some way.

However, you know the path ahead is tough.

You’ve heard the stories of people who have tried and failed.

But it calls to you, and you want to do something about it.

Do you answer your calling?

You accept.

Of course.

Suddenly, a console visible only to you pops up before your eyes.

You squint. What’s this?

Gears turning in your mind, you figure out that this must be related somehow to your development as a founder. Right?

DING DING!

“You are absolutely right!” An avatar pops up next to the screen with a smile, “Congratulations on deciding to start your founder journey. I’m here as your guide.”

Gesturing to the console screen, she chirps, “As you can see, these are your Founder RPG stats. I’ll explain them quickly, but you can learn more by tapping through each one later.”

Base stats

• HP (health points): Your general wellbeing, including physical and mental health.

• EXP (experience points): Your startup and founder experience, gained through wins and tribulations.

• DPS (damage per second): Your focus and speed of execution against goals, including productivity and efficiency.

• Crit. Dmg. (critical damage): Your ability to work on the right things, being effective; your honed perception of what you need to care most about at any given moment.

• ATK + DEF (attack and defense): Your overall power and influence in the marketplace.

“Ah, that makes sense,” you say, wavering, unsure if you are insane already, “What about these derived stats?”

She glances back, “Oh, derived stats are advanced skills that build upon your base stats.”

Derived stats

• Guild Rank (team standing): Your leadership and ability to build a team that grows and scales accordingly.

• Dmg. Boost (damage boost): Your management and coordination skills, ensuring that all team efforts have a stacked effect.

• Crit. Rate (critical rate): Your aptitude for leveraged efforts, and the chances of finding people who can help you most for greatest outcomes.

• Dodge (flexibility): Your agility in executing and navigating pivots and other challenging periods of time; a factor of other stats such as Rank and Dmg. Boost.

“I… I think I understand,” you say. “So as I continue on my quest, I can refer to these stats as a marker of my own progress.” The avatar beams. “Excellent, excellent, you are well on your way to being a great founder already!”

You think to yourself in summary:

• Founder = Player (RPG stats)

• Team = Guild (Team stats)

• Startup Quest = …?

The avatar cuts in, as if reading your mind, “I’ll explain that to you tomorrow — the ultimate map!~”

You determinedly lie down and close your eyes. Tomorrow, you begin.

Bright and early the next morning, she begins. “I’m going to take you on a speed run through the entire map, so you can envision yourself on this journey.”

For each area of the map, you have a main quest, with accompanying templates and guides to get you started right away. (Coming soon)

🧳 Player is leaving Home 🏡

Here you are, setting out on your startup adventure.

Since the road ahead is arduous and long, you need something to refer back to so you can always center yourself when the going gets rough.

Main Quest (Home) : Leave home with a clear sense of identity, and start well.

As you start your quest, you may want to know:

• What is my purpose?

• What are my motivations?

• Why am I doing this?

• What are my ideal RPG stats?

• What are my stats right now?

• How do I be most effective (personally) in a startup?

🌟 Player enters Ideation Forest 🌲

You start looking for ideas to build. Maybe you already have one, but you’re thinking about how to expand upon it.

It’s easy to get lost. It’s easy to lose sight of what you’re doing. It’s easy to think every idea is a good idea.

You probably gather a few friends and start journeying together through the forest.

Main Quest (Ideation Forest): Find a few good ideas you want to test.

As you hack through the Ideation Forest, you may want to know:

• How do I find new problems to solve?

• How do I develop novel thinking and solutions?

• Do other people see this as a problem as much as I do?

• How do I frame the problem well?

🌟 Player enters Market Plains 🏜️

You start testing some ideas with potential customers.

Maybe you test based on an idea, or a sketch, or a simple working prototype.

You’ll likely go back and forth between Ideation Forest and Market Plains very often.

You emerge with an idea of what to build to solve a problem for someone specific.

Main Quest (Market Plains): Experiment, prototype, get yes’s and no’s quickly.

As you trek through the Market Plains, you may want to know:

• Who feels the problems I’m seeing most strongly?

• Are there people already using a hacky solution, and how do I tap into that?

• How do I define a very unique point of view that people will get immediately?

• How do I best use feedback?

🌟 Player enters Development Mountain 🏔️

You pitch a tent on the Development Mountain and gather your troops to start working.

You start building a version to get comprehensive feedback.

You probably go back and forth from the Market Plains to validate your builds a lot.

It’s easy to be misled by people in the Market Plains if you ask the wrong questions.

You’ll probably spend a lot of time camping out in the wild and eating tree roots (ramen?).

You may think spending time building out a good team and infrastructure is a waste of time, but it’s not.

Main Quest (Development Mountain): Build effectively, and get signs of adoption.

As you hike up and down the Development Mountain, you may want to know:

• How do I set good goals?

• How do I make good decisions?

• How do I run meetings and get buy-in?

• How do I build a highly effective team?

• How do I ensure things get done according to our goals?

• How do I manage things if my team is scattered across various mountain ranges (remote)?

🌟 Player enters Funding Rivers 🌊

You hold your product to your bosom and head down to the river.

The Funding Rivers are an abundant but dangerous place.

Rapids are strong. Take care not to lose sight of the plains and the mountains.

Avoid the piranhas in the water eager to eat you up. 🐟 (just kidding — no offense to our beloved VC friends!)

Main Quest (Funding Rivers): Raise money to grow and fuel the next phase (without being eaten by the piranhas!).

As you get swept up by the energy of the Funding Rivers, you may want to know:

• How do I present my opportunity and solution for funding?

• What are the main things that my funders are looking for?

• How do I effectively run fundraising processes?

• What are some of the principles behind closing funding?

• Should I join an accelerator or incubator?

• What should I expect?

🌟 Player enters Launch City 🌊

You made it to massive civilization with some things figured out.

Now, you have to get more people to use your solution.

You knock on the doors of the people who were referred to you by your friends in the Market Plains.

You get your product in the hands of as many people as possible, and rush back to the Development Mountain to fix things often.

You excitedly run back to the Funding Rivers from time to time, when you see hopeful signs.

You think about home a lot. You ask yourself “why am I doing this” a lot. You probably fight with your team a lot (respectfully).

Main Quest (Launch City): Reach as many potential customers as possible, and convince them.

As you canvass the good people of Launch City, you may want to know:

• How do I go-to-market most effectively?

• What does a good launch look like?

• How do I operate effectively with all sorts of moving parts?

• How do I get my team on the same page at all times?

• What is my strategy and how do I change quickly?

• Do I need to pivot?

🌟 Player enters Growth Highlands 🌻

You expand out of the city into all kinds of far away places, and your product is in more hands than you may have expected back at home.

When you travel, random people come up to you to tell you they’ve heard of you before.

Sometimes, people on your team come up to greet you and you suddenly realize you can’t remember everybody’s names anymore; there are too many people now.

You probably found a way to irrigate the fields from the river. (You probably swim in the river a lot.)

It’s easy to be seduced by the glitter, and take yourself too seriously.

Whenever possible, you take a trip back to the Ideation Forest and Market Plains to try out new ideas.

Main Quest (Growth Highlands): Scale effectively.

As you navigate the rolling hills of the Growth Highlands, you may want to know:

• How do I manage a scaling company so we perform at the level we expect?

• How do I ensure the right customer-focused culture propagates at every level?

• How do I keep expanding my category and innovating?

• What does the board really expect of me and the team?

• How do I keep doing the right things while managing investors’ (and stock markets’) expectations?

🌟 Player enters Legacy Tower 🗼

You think about life a lot.

You probably rang a bell somewhere, or sold property in Launch City and Growth Highlands.

Money isn’t an object anymore. You try to be generous with others.

You build a generator on the Funding Rivers.

You look back at your first humble Home and smile.

You name buildings after yourself. You look into longevity solutions, and try out blood bags (just kidding! do not try this at home!).

Main Quest (Legacy Tower): Help others to be successful, while reaping the rewards of your previous work.

As the map reveals itself in full, you surreptitiously take a screenshot.

As if noticing your actions, the avatar laughs, “Don’t worry, it’s always going to be here when you need to refer back to it!”

More about the map

• Sometimes, you have to visit an area of the map multiple times.

• It gets easier after you pass by an area at least once.

• As you complete quests, your RPG stats will certainly increase.

• Keep an eye on your stats (especially your HP!) as they are important in ensuring you can complete the map.

Now… are you ready? Let’s dive into a part of the map and start your own adventure.

If you enjoyed this piece, would you mind leaving me some feedback so I can improve?